Postgraduate training
training contract/qualifying work experience (QWE) (solicitors) or one-year pupillage (barristers). Law conversion courses For non-law students, the introduction of the SQE means you now have more choice about your route to becoming a solicitor. All non-law graduates must take the SQE to qualify as a solicitor (unless you accepted a place on the GDL or secured a training contract before September 2021) so it’s worth considering your options when it comes to conversion and SQE preparation courses. The biggest change is that non-law graduates no longer need to complete a conversion course before taking the SQE. It’s therefore entirely possible to rock up to the SQE assessments without having even studied law or undertaken a preparation course. Possible? Yes. Advisable? Definitely not! To give yourself the best chance of passing the SQE, you have the option of taking a separate law conversion course (ie, the GDL or Post Graduate Diploma in Law (PGDL)) and then moving onto an SQE course. Or you can do a conversion course that incorporates elements of SQE preparation. The GDL/PGDL is a conversion course that non-law graduates can take to enable them to apply for an SQE or Bar course place. It’s normally a one-year, full-time course designed to enable non-law graduates to fulfil the academic stage of legal training. The course can also be taken over two years, either part time or by distance learning. If you intend to study the GDL full time, you should apply through the Central Applications Board (www.lawcabs.ac.uk) from September onwards in your final year at university. There’s no closing date for applications; rather, applications are dealt with as they’re submitted and institutions are notified weekly of new submissions.
Broadly speaking, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB) are responsible for laying down the training requirements for qualification as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. The past few years have seen a lot of change in the postgraduate training world, for both would-be solicitors and barristers. In this chapter we run through some of the postgraduate course options for law and non-law students. Recent changes Before we start, be aware that the route to becoming a solicitor changed in September 2021 with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), which has replaced the Legal Practice Course (LPC) – find out more about the SQE and the transitional arrangements for current students further on in this chapter. Meanwhile, the process of becoming a barrister also recently changed, with the Bar Professional Training Course replaced by a more flexible system enabling law schools to design their own Bar courses. Find out more about these Bar courses later in this chapter. The traditional route For both solicitors and barristers, training comprises of two stages: academic and vocational. The academic stage can be completed in one of three ways: • a qualifying law degree (LLB); • a law conversion course such as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) for non-law graduates; or • the CILEX exams for those wishing to qualify as chartered legal executives, which enable people who are already in legal employment to qualify while they’re working (see ‘Alternative careers’ on page 42). The vocational stage involves completion of the LPC or SQE for aspiring solicitors or a Bar course for aspiring barristers, plus a two-year
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